In cellular communications devices, radio sensitivity is a fundamental figure characterizing radio receiver performance. Conducted (i.e., via an RF cable) and radiated (i.e., via a wireless communications link) radio sensitivity measurements are performed frequently during radio design, certification, and verification. These measurements are performed by reducing the base station power transmit level until the receiver residual bit error ratio (RBER) reaches a desired level, specifically 2.44%.
For Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) mobile devices, for example, there are several communications bands each ranging from at least one hundred channels to almost four hundred. To scan every channel of a GSM mobile phone requires large amounts of time using traditional, semi-intuitive methods. Automated methods replicating manual estimation tend to be random or follow binary-tree search methodology.